Heartless
by Unstable Firestarter
Summary: The newest member is utterly devoted to the Organization's pyro, but her sentiment is not returned. In fact, her devotion brings her more pain than she'd imagined as it lands her directly in the middle of Marluxia's conspiracy. Axel/OC.
1. The Beginning

**A/N:** Right, so I have no idea if this is going to be any good, or popular or anything, but it started with a very simple, very silly idea and thus needed to be written. This fic was spawned from a very simple realization I had one day whilst finishing up RE: CoM; I would totally be Axel's lapdog…and yeah, from it comes TRAGEDY and things not cute at all xD;; Umm…I'm not sure if everything is logical or makes sense, so, shhh about that xD As always, comments are welcome, loved, desired, sought after…you get the idea xD Just no flames please x3 Oh! Rated M for character death, and…some other things I haven't worked out yet xD

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**Chapter One – "The Beginning"**

She would do anything for him, didn't he understand? Understand what that meant?

That was the way it had been since she'd joined the Organization some months ago, the day she'd gone from a lost, rejected Nobody to number XIV-The Reaper of Silence. For reasons she could not begin to explain, she'd soon become enthralled with him-everything about him; his hair, his eyes, the sound of his voice, the way he talked, the way he fought, everything. At first her presence had been unwanted, the way she would tag along after him like a silent puppy dog grating on his nerves, but that had slowly changed. At least…she'd thought it had.

He came to see that she could be useful to him, and though he made no attempts to fool her into thinking they were friends, he tolerated her, no longer snapped at her to go away. He told her to do something, and she did it, no complaints, no questions asked. Soon it went beyond the simple fact that she was six ranks lower than him and he had the right to give her an order every now and then, it started to become like she answered to him personally, whenever he wished. Sure, she still had her orders and missions from the Superior, but more often than not she was on task for _him_.

"Demyx keeps screwing up on his mission again," he'd said to her once, "Go find out what his problem is."

She'd specifically remembered seeing the Melodious Nocturne ask _him_ for help, but she bit her tongue, didn't question his order, and had simply nodded, "Yes," she'd said, with her faint Chinese accent.

She didn't really mind helping the water elemental-he was laid back and kind to her, and they got along well, and she didn't really mind the fact that he was having trouble with his mission. What she did mind though, was that the trouble was a large, stubborn Heartless who refused to let anyone past it, and needed to be slain before the mission could be carried out. She'd ended up fighting it primarily on her own, and even with the excellent gifts of her element-sound-she'd still been thrashed pretty good before she defeated it.

When she'd returned to the Castle That Never Was exhausted and bleeding from a gash on her forehead, she'd planned to see Vexen about the wound. She didn't particularly like him-specifically the way he looked at her as though she was an interesting specimen, but she figured he'd know what to do about it. However, she'd been intercepted before she could get more than two steps into the Castle.

"Tell Larxene I need to have a word with her, would you?" he'd said.

She couldn't possibly deny the request, not when he had that imploring look in his eyes, and she'd nodded, figuring that it wouldn't hold her up too long from getting her wound treated.

As fate would have it, she'd ended up passing out in the Savage Nymph's quarters seconds after delivering the message, and had to be taken to Vexen to be treated. She'd recovered just fine though, bouncing back swiftly with only a few stitches that were sure to leave a faint scar, and never held any ill feelings over the incident.

"Xain," Demyx had said to her one evening not long after that, "Why do you let him do that?"

"Do what?" the slight seventeen year old had asked inquisitively, tilting her head to the side.

"Order you around like you're his personal slave," the blonde replied, "You don't _have_ to take that from him, you know."

She'd just blinked, regarding him with her dark brown almond shaped eyes for a long moment. "Do you think it matters?" she asked quietly.

Now it was his turn to be confused, "What matters?"

"Never mind," she said, biting her lip and turning away, "I suppose it doesn't, after all."

He'd jumped up from where he'd been seated, stopping her with a light hand on her shoulder, and she'd hesitantly turned back to him. "I think I understand," he said.

"You do?" she'd said, her brows furrowing as she looked up at him.

"You shouldn't waste your time with him," Demyx said, his voice dropping in case anyone was listening, "You know, be your own person. Whatever he needs done, he can handle it himself."

"Be my…own person?" she'd repeated lifelessly, and he saw that his words had no affect on her.

"Just…don't let yourself get hurt over this," he insisted.

"I can take care of myself," she'd said, misunderstanding.

"That's not what I meant," the blonde had said.

Oh…_that_ kind of hurt. What was he thinking? They were Nobodies, they couldn't feel hurt or rejection or anything else, not really, only memories of those feelings. Instead though, she'd just forced a small smile and said, "Thanks Demy. I think you're my only friend here."

He'd laughed a bit, a little flustered, and tried to tell her that wasn't true, but she knew it had to be. Who else cared about her? She couldn't think of one person who acted like maybe they did-well, perhaps number XIII did, but he was quiet, and she never saw him that much. She guessed that he kept to himself a lot; then again, she wasn't around the Castle enough to really know-she was almost always off on some task or mission.

It never mattered what she was doing when he 'needed' her for something, she always dropped everything for his sake, no matter what. There was the time she'd just returned from a mission she'd been assigned by Xemnas, and she was dead tired. So tired, in fact, that when she'd gone into the 'living room' of sorts in the Castle, to talk to Demyx, she'd curled up on the couch beside him and ended up nodding off mid-sentence. She'd slept peacefully for about five minutes, her head nestled against his shoulder, but of course that didn't last long.

"Xain."

The sound of his voice had startled her awake, and she lifted her head immediately, blinking sleepily. She'd looked to the doorway to see him standing there, and then looked back to Demyx. The blonde was watching her expectantly, waiting for her to turn down whatever order she was about to receive in exchange for some obviously much needed sleep, but she merely shook her head a little, short, soft layered black hair with its silver streaks drifting about her face, and stood.

"Aww, come on, give her a break; she needs to get some rest," he had said in her defense.

"I wasn't aware this concerned you, Demyx," had been the reply.

That had been it, the end of that discussion, cut off with his cold words telling the Melodious Nocturne that this was not a matter for him to poke his nose into.

So now, as the young Nobody lay in bed in her quarters at the Castle, gazing up at the blank ceiling, she thought again; didn't he understand? She raised a slim hand to her forehead, fingers tracing over the slightly raised scar there; she would do anything for him, whatever he asked. She didn't know how else to show how she felt-she wasn't very good at communicating with him, mostly because he was always so busy-busy telling her what to do, that is. She was beginning to think that maybe Demyx had been right, what he'd said that day those weeks ago; maybe she shouldn't waste her time on him.

Her feelings were ill-placed, but they were _hers_ and they felt so _real_, when she never thought she'd experience anything like that again after becoming a Nobody. She was foolish, and an idiot, she'd seen some of the other Org. members talking about her when they thought she wasn't aware, she knew what they said about her, and yet…she couldn't change what she felt. She held onto it, and the foolish hope that one day things would be different.

There was a sharp rap on the door and she flinched, breaking from her reverie. In record time, she dressed and shrugged into her Organization coat, zipping it up and pulling on the black leather gloves even as she strode towards the door. It was exactly who she expected to see on the other side, and she swallowed, gazing at him expectantly.

"Yes?" she asked in her soft voice.

"Marluxia has requested to see me, but I really can't be bothered with him right now," the redhead said, "Find out what he wants."

She frowned slightly at this. _Won't he be mad? Why send me if he wants to see _you_? Why don't you actually go talk to him yourself?_ She voiced none of these though, and bit her tongue as always, even though something about this seemed odd. "Yes, Axel," she said, nodding.

She had a bad feeling about this though that she couldn't explain; why was he sending her for _this_? He'd never done so before, usually he just sent her to tell people when _he_ wanted to talk to _them_, but not this. Trying not to think too much of it, she opened a corridor of darkness. If only she'd known what she was getting herself into, she might of just had the first moment of ever denying an order from him.


	2. The Set Up

**Chapter Two – "The Set Up"**

When she emerged from the corridor at her destination, the person she expected to see was not the one who was standing there. Xain looked in confusion at the petite blonde girl who stood before her with her arms crossed over her chest impatiently.

"Larxene?" she said.

"It's _you_," the Savage Nymph said, not bothering to hide her contempt, "I should've known that jerk would send his lapdog instead."

"What's going on?" Xain asked, still quite confused.

"Sorry sweetie," the blonde retorted, her tone sickly sweet and mocking, "It looks like your beloved Axel set you up for the fall."

"What are you talking about?" Xain questioned, taking a step back as she noted the appearance of the lightning elemental's kunai.

What was happening? Why had the blonde armed herself? The younger Nobody was confused-had Axel really set her up for something?

"It's too bad, really," Larxene said, "Everything was going so smoothly," she sighed, "And then that jerk had to go and do this."

"I don't understand," Xain stated honestly.

"He sent you in his place. It's time for you to disappear then," Larxene said, and from past experience, Xain knew she wasn't going to get much more of an explanation.

"But I-I don't-," the seventeen-year-old started.

Before she could finish though, the Savage Nymph was in motion, charging at her lightning quick. Reacting swiftly, Xain did the first thing that came to mind; she opened her mouth and screamed. The sound was incredibly high pitch and piercing, causing any glass that happened to be in the room to shatter. Larxene faltered, half raising her hands to her ears, but then growled, throwing her kunai at the raven-haired Nobody. Ceasing her banshee-like scream, Xain quickly summoned her black titanium bo staff into her hands. She used her newly formed weapon to deflect the blades, the metals clashing together as they bounced off.

She felt a static charging in the air around her, and dove to the side just in time to evade a bolt of lightning. Rolling to her feet, she was forced to use her extreme speed to dodge a consecutive string of bolts. Coming up on Larxene's side, she swung her staff, though the attack was countered with a series of sharp punches and kicks that sent her reeling. Ignoring the pain from the blows, Xain attacked again, once more putting her speed to good use.

She didn't really want to fight, wasn't really into it, but she felt she had no choice.

She began to suck the sound from the room, rendering them both deaf, but this soon turned out to be a mistake. While she was still recovering from a sharp kick to her shin, a silent bolt of lightning tore down and electrified her. All the sound rushed back just in time for her scream of pain to reverberate through the room. Shortly after, as she was crashing to the floor, the sound of Larxene's girlish laughter filled her ears.

Quickly though, Xain forced herself to stand, using her bo staff for support until she'd regained her balance. So, she'd been right; she had no choice. If she didn't fight, Larxene was going to kill her-and she still didn't even understand why.

She charged at the blonde Nobody, using her speed to dodge more lightning and kunai that were sent in her direction. When she reached her foe again, her speed was also needed to keep up with Larxene as she lashed out as quickly as the element she controlled. Despite her swiftness though, Xain still somehow managed to end up with three slashes across the side of her face. The wounds were superficial, but they stung nonetheless, and dripped blood down her cheek.

They clashed again and again, until Xain was hit with another bolt of lightning that drove her to her knees and left her gasping. As soon as she had her breathe again, she let loose with another ear piercing scream, making her blonde foe curse and stumble. Springing to her feet, Xain proceeded to drain the sound again, but isolated it to solely around Larxene, rendering her alone deaf.

It didn't seem to do much good though, as in response the blonde sent bolt after bolt of lightning shooting towards Xain. The raven haired Nobody dodged again and again, but soon she began to tire from continuously moving so fast. Abruptly she came to a halt, holding her staff firmly in both hands, and swung it around over her head, power gathering with each rotation. She was readying a sound wave which she hoped would be strong enough to simply knock out the Savage Nymph so that she could figure out what was going on, but of course, that's not how things went.

Larxene started towards her, gliding more than charging really, and Xain grit her teeth, willing her sound energy to gather faster. Unfortunately, she got her wish at the exact wrong second. She swung her staff out in front of her just as her foe entered the range of it, and the titanium end caught her hard across the face. The gathered energy released in a wave, sending the blonde tumbling backward through the air, but all Xain could focus on was the sickening crack she'd heard when her bo staff had connected.

Her dark eyes widened as she watched Larxene fall almost gracefully to the floor, lying motionless after that. No…No! She dropped her staff, the resulting clatter so loud in the silence that now dominated the room, and ran to the fallen blonde.

"Larxene!" she cried, dropping to her knees at her side, "_Larxene!"_

But obviously her fears were true, as black tendrils were already surrounding the Savage Nymph, engulfing her. Xain sat there in disbelief-she hadn't meant to kill her! It had been an accident, she'd only meant to knock her out…. Someone would have to believe her, right? Why would she want to kill Larxene anyway? She had no quarrels with anyone in the Organization, she'd only acted to defend herself…

Stumbling to her feet, her legs shaky after everything that had just happened, she opened a corridor of darkness. Emerging on the other side, she found that Axel already seemed to be waiting for her, as if having anticipated her arrival.

"It was Larxene, not Marluxia," Xain said blankly, feeling safe enough here to allow herself to crumple slowly to the floor again, "I…I…it was an accident."

"I know," the redhead said with a sigh, turning from where he'd stood with his back to her, "You had no choice."

"Then you understand," she said, turning hopeful eyes to him. However, something occurred to her, and she frowned, "Wait…how would…?"

"I know what happened," Axel said, "They set a trap, that's why I sent you. Except that didn't work as planned."

"What didn't work?" Xain asked, once more not understanding what was going on. She felt so blind, not comprehending, she wished someone would explain something, anything.

"I find it useless to explain to someone who's not going to exist much longer," he said, unfolding his arms and summoning his chakram.

She blinked, her eyes widening as she watched his weapons manifest in a flurry of flames. "What…what do you mean?" she asked.

"You killed Larxene, that makes you a traitor," the redhead said, twirling his chakram almost absently, "Traitors are to be destroyed."

"But-it was an accident! You know that," Xain said desperately, "I acted in self defense."

He shook his head, "You can't be allowed to live, Xain."

It finally dawned on her then, and her shoulders sagged as she realized that Larxene had been right. "You _did_ set me up," she said quietly.

It was at that exact moment that a corridor of darkness opened and Demyx stepped out. Clearly the scene that greeted him was not the one he'd been expecting, and surprise crossed his expression.

"Axel?" he said, looking from the redhead to Xain, "What's going on?"

"Stay out of this, Demyx," the pyro responded, "She killed Larxene."

"What?" Demyx exclaimed.

Xain swung her gaze to him, shaking her head slowly.

"That can't be right, Xain wouldn't do something like that," the blonde said.

"Well, she did," Axel said.

At that moment, she knew she had to do something, and she forced herself out of her stupor. She got to her feet swiftly, deafening Axel so that he wouldn't hear her approach, and dashed towards him. For all her speed, she was still tired from earlier, and had to duck beneath one of his chakram as he turned to counter whatever attack she was planning. She ducked again, pivoting to the side lightning quick, and dealt a kick to his head that knocked him out cold. She caught him as he fell with one arm under his shoulders, struggling to support him as she seemed to be lacking her usual strength.

She quickly looked up to Demyx, who still stood there, appearing even more surprised now than he had before.

"You have to believe me," she said quietly, pleadingly, "I had no choice; she was going to kill me. I-I have to go, I can't stay here."

"Xain, wait! Where are you going?" Demyx asked.

"I'm sorry," was all she said, shaking her head, "Please believe me, Demy."

With that, she opened a corridor of darkness around her and Axel, and a second later they had both vanished.


	3. Graceful Assassin Pt 1

**A/N:** I'm soooooo sorry it took me so long to update. Thank you very much for the review!

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**Chapter Three – "Graceful Assassin Pt. 1"**

He wasn't going to be happy when he woke up; she could anticipate that now as she sat on the ground with her knees drawn up to her chest. She didn't really like this place, but she hadn't known where else to go. Cold, black stone blocks surrounded them, and if that didn't give the location an ominous feel, than the row of old, crumbling jail cells certainly did.

It was inside one of these cells that Axel was currently restrained-that is, his hands were shackled to the wall behind him. Xain sat in the hall across from this cell, her back against the cold wall as she chewed nervously on her thumb, once again surveying the white runes that covered the walls, ceiling, and floor of the cell. She was pretty sure they would hold-they were containment runes, meant to negate anything like darkness and elements-and she'd drawn them into place herself. She'd tested them just earlier, and had been unable to use her own sound element within the cell, as well as prevented from opening a corridor, and she hoped it would do the same for him.

She didn't like imprisoning him like this, but like before, she felt that she had no choice. He had been about to kill her, so what would stop him from trying to do the same again? She sighed, turning her gaze to the floor, and raised a gloved hand briefly to the cuts on her face, wincing slightly as they still stung. Idly, she wondered how long it would be before someone from the Organization came after them, which she was sure someone would. She was supposedly a traitor, though she still had no idea what was going on.

Eventually, he stirred, and she raised her gaze from the floor, watching as he awakened and looked around, realizing that he was restrained.

"You won't be able to get out," Xain said quietly.

He turned his gaze to her. "What've you done?"

"Just ensured my safety," she replied, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees.

"'Ensuring your safety'?" he repeated, "You're going to get us both killed."

She shook her head slightly, "I'd like to know what's going on," she said, "Or else I'll just leave you here to die."

It was an empty threat, they both knew she had no intentions of doing that, but he answered her anyway.

"Fine," the redhead said with a sigh, "Marluxia's planning to overthrow the Organization. I sent you to that meeting because I knew it was a trap. I thought whoever else is involved would be revealed, but it obviously didn't work."

Xain blinked, turning her gaze back down to the floor as she processed this. A conspiracy…Marluxia and unknown others-there had been Larxene, she knew now, but still others possibly. …How had she managed to get herself caught in the middle of this? She still didn't understand why he had planned to kill her before, but she supposed that understanding of that would come in time, as she didn't exactly feel like asking him.

"Come on, you've got to let me out of here," Axel said.

His voice broke through her thoughts, and she looked up again. "I don't…think that's such a good idea just yet," she said quietly.

"What are you going to do when Marluxia comes for us? You're going to fight him alone?" he questioned.

She had no answer for that, but she supposed that's what she was going to do if it came down to it; fight him alone. She didn't much like the idea though, and not just because the Graceful Assassin would be a strong opponent, but because there was something she just didn't like about him, something sinister.

"Come on, neither of us wants to die," the redhead said, his voice dropping to a persuasive tone, "Things would be better if you let me out."

"How do I know that you wouldn't just kill me?" she said.

"You'll have to trust me," he said.

Climbing to her feet, she shook her head slightly. "Trust you? You have…no idea," she said slowly, taking a few steps forward, "I would do anything for you, _anything_. I'd even die for you, but," she entered the cell now, never breaking eye contact though the submissive side of her wanted to, "I will _not_ die at your hands."

"Then let me go," he said, his tone still quiet and persuasive though she knew he was frustrated, "I won't kill you."

"Bullshit, Axel, _bullshit_," Xain whispered, unbidden tears stinging her eyes. She fought them back before they were noticeable though; keeping her composure-the tears of a Nobody, what did they matter to anyone, when they couldn't truly feel emotions anymore? "You don't care about me; I'm nothing to you, just like Demyx said."

"Xain," he said, his voice losing that persuasive tone to be replaced by something more dangerous, "I'm _ordering_ you to-"

He was cut off though when she suddenly leaned forward, standing on her toes, and kissed him. She knew she was acting foolishly again, but she couldn't help it. There was no emotion behind the action-figuratively speaking-as she was too caught up in everything that had happened and was yet to happen, but she just couldn't face the possibility of dying without kissing him at least once.

"_Xain_," he started crossly when she drew back.

She kissed him again, but drew back abruptly, her eyes widening.

He started to say something again, but she put her hand over his mouth, silencing him.

"Quiet," she hissed, "Don't make a sound."

With that she spun, quickly leaving the cell, and turned to look down the length of the hallway, since they were at the end. Her fears were confirmed when she saw the tall man standing there, but she forced herself not to show her unease.

"So you killed Larxene," he said, his voice quiet and unmistakable.

"I suppose it wouldn't make a difference if I said I didn't want any part in this," Xain said.

"You would be correct," Marluxia said, blue eyes boring into hers. "And where is dear Axel? I'm sure you wouldn't wander too far from your keeper."

She snorted softly, her gaze never wavering, "Like I'm going to tell you," she said.

"No matter, his time will come soon enough," he said.

"I happen to disagree," Xain said quietly, her bo staff materializing in her hands.

Marluxia raised an eyebrow, "You think you can fight me, little one?"

"I have no choice," she replied.

She made the first move, dashing forward with her extreme speed, but before she'd even made it half way to him she was suddenly confronted with a blast of razor sharp flower petals that forced her to stop. She swiftly raised her staff in front of her, creating a barrier of sound energy that deflected the petals. While she was blinded by them though, he swiftly approached her, dealing out a series of kicks that she struggled to block. She failed for the most part, gritting her teeth as she took them to the stomach and sides.

As soon as she could, she was in motion again, darting around him and swinging her staff. He evaded easily though, his large scythe materializing in a dense flurry of petals, and unfortunately, there was just enough room in the wide hallway for him to wield it effectively. She back stepped quickly to avoid being cleaved in half as he swung the massive, curved blade at her. She blocked as he swung again, the blade clashing against her staff with a metallic screech. Again and again she blocked, pivoting to the side as his scythe cut through the side of her coat.

Swinging her staff around, she sent a sound wave in his direction, though he countered with a blade of energy from his scythe. The two met in midair and canceled each other out, but she was already in motion again, charging forward to swing her staff at him. Marluxia deflected her attack with the shaft of his scythe, countering with a swipe from the large blade. She blocked, bracing her staff with both hands, and darted to the other side, shooting a swift kick to his back. As she spun again, another wave of petals blinded her, and she raised her staff to protect her face, the sharp edges cutting through her coat at the shoulders and arms.

All at once her feet left the ground, and she floundered, trying to regain her balance. The attempt was futile though, as she soon saw that she'd been trapped in a tornado of petals. Upon realizing that she'd lost sight of Marluxia, she twisted about to try and locate him. She turned just in time to raise her staff as he lunged forward, slashing at her with his scythe. The blade collided with her own weapon, the force knocking her backward through the air, and she crashed into the back wall of an empty cell. She crumpled to the ground, disorientated for a second, but then vaulted back to her feet, mostly uninjured from the attack.

Even as she started to charge forward again though, she saw him suddenly throw his scythe at her, and her eyes widened.


	4. Graceful Assassin Pt 2

**A/N:** Sorry for lack of update for so long x.x Things have been really stressful, have family in the hospital.

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**Chapter Four – "Graceful Assassin Pt. 2"**

Marluxia's scythe spun through the air towards her and she moved to dodge, but the action was too late. The blade hit her, piercing through her shoulder, and the momentum carried her backwards, the blade embedding into the stone blocks. She cried out in pain, her bo staff dropping from her hand to clatter noisily against the floor as she raised her other hand to wrap around the blade of the scythe. Her feet dangled a few inches off the ground, her weight being supported on the weapon, and she grimaced, trying to pull it free.

It was embedded too deeply though, and her efforts were futile, her struggling only making her blood spill faster down the front of her Org. coat. She looked up as Marluxia entered the cell, taking his time as she obviously wasn't going anywhere at the moment.

"Does that hurt, little one?" he inquired as he took the end of his scythe in his hands.

She didn't bother to reply, merely focusing her concentration on not crying out again as he pulled the blade free. She fell to her hands and knees, pressing one hand over her wound briefly in a useless attempt to staunch the bleeding. Forcing back the pain, she struggled to collect herself, and quickly snatched up her staff in her good hand. In a second, she had vaulted to her feet and was lashing out with her staff. Her blows didn't hold the same strength they had before, as her right arm was weakened considerably, but she still drove him back as he blocked each and every one of her attacks.

Swinging her staff around again, she leaped up into a spinning kick that caught him in the arm as he raised his scythe defensively. She followed through with another kick before her feet hit the ground again, and pivoted to the left, slamming the end of her bo staff into his side as she went. He grunted from the force of the blow, stumbling slightly, but soon whirled, bringing his scythe around as he did. Quickly she jumped back to avoid being cut in half, and unleashed a sound wave that raced down the corridor towards her foe.

He evaded easily, and she sent out another sound wave, keeping him occupied with defense until he countered with a gale of petals. She raised her staff to block, the force driving her back until she nearly hit the wall at the end of the corridor. She spared not a glance to where Axel was as she dashed forward again using her extreme speed. She lashed out again and again, blocking, parrying, striking back when she saw openings. Jumping away, she swiftly aimed a sound wave to the ceiling above Marluxia.

The black stones exploded, crumbling, and parts of the ceiling rained down in chunks, causing the Graceful Assassin to quickly back-track to avoid being caught under the rubble. Xain sent another attack to the ceiling, caving in more of it until she thought that it would cause her opponent at least a few moments of trouble. Pausing there to catch her breath, she leaned her weight on her staff, lifting her other hand to cover the wound on her shoulder, trying to at least slow the bleeding. Right now, more than ever, she wished she could go back in time and refuse that order Axel had given her that started all of this.

How simple things would be right now if he'd only handled things himself. Larxene would still be alive, they wouldn't be in this God awful underground prison, Marluxia wouldn't be trying to kill her, and she most certainly would not be in so much pain or bleeding like she was. But she was devoted, and she'd always done whatever he asked-well…except for that last thing. Maybe she was finally starting to get a spine when it came to Axel. Maybe…

All at once, the pile of rubble exploded outward, causing her to jump back and duck to avoid being hit by flying chunks. Much more quickly than she could react, Marluxia was charging towards her, leaping easily over what remained of the debris. He hit her with the flat of his scythe, the force of the blow knocking her back as though she were a rag doll. She struggled to keep her hold on her staff as she hit the ground, her head connecting with the black stones and making stars explode before her eyes.

Before she could even begin to stand, there was suddenly a sharp pain that shot through her right leg and she cried out. Looking down, she saw the long curved blade of Marluxia's scythe stabbing through her thigh. Grinding her teeth against the pain, she turned what was supposed to be a glare to the Graceful Assassin. He merely smirked in return, pulling his scythe free. Stray droplets of her blood scattered through the air, joining the pool that was forming beneath her leg, but she ignored it, forcing herself to her feet as quickly as possible.

Shifting most of her weight to her good leg, she struck out with her staff, but was immediately met with a counterattack that forced her to brace her weapon with both hands. She slid backward as she blocked, nearly slipping in blood, but managed to keep her balance. Summoning more speed than she thought she still had, she darted to the side, swinging her staff around once, twice, a third time as he continued to block. Her fourth swing made it through his defenses though, and the end of her staff collided with the side of his head.

He went down like a load of bricks, and she had no idea if he was unconscious or just disorientated, but she didn't plan on sticking around long enough to find out. Out of breath, she leaned on her staff, her knees threatening to buckle, and she almost went down. She forced herself to stay up though, turning and starting to make her way down the corridor to where Axel was. Along the way she slipped in her own blood and cursed as she started to fall, at the last moment managing to brace herself against the wall with her staff.

"You…beat him?" Axel said skeptically with raised eyebrows as she appeared in his line of sight.

She laughed humorlessly, pausing to look uncertainly over her shoulder. "Knocked him out…I think," she said.

Xain pushed herself away from the wall, ambling into the cell, blood still dripping down from her leg and shoulder.

"Hey," the redhead said, sounding mildly concerned, "Don't die on me before you let me go."

"Always…thinking about yourself," she said with a slight shake of her head, finally reaching him and resting her weight on her staff again to fish around in her pockets.

"Would _you_ want to be helpless with Marluxia gunning for you?" he pointed out.

"True…" Xain said quietly, producing a key from her pocket.

She hesitated though, looking from the key, to him, but then the fact that she was growing more lightheaded by the second drove her to push her un-trust aside and release him from his restraints. She stumbled back a few steps, giving him room, but then lost her balance and ended up going down. Her bo staff slid from her hand, clattering against the stone, but she didn't really hear it. She didn't really feel the ground either when she hit it, almost as if she were watching some one else fall. Her head connected with the floor, but she still didn't feel that impact, though her vision swam.

The sounds around her faded out, and she flinched slightly when a shadow fell across her vision. Turning her gaze up, she saw Axel crouched at her side. He was saying something, but she couldn't hear the words, and her vision was swiftly fading. Within seconds she was out cold.


	5. Confessions of the Heart

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews and such. I'm sorry about the long wait for an update-I kinda forgot about FFNet for a while, many stressful things over the last month.

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**Chapter Five – "Confessions of the Heart"**

She stirred slowly, the first thing she noticed being that she felt stiff and sore all over. Xain groaned softly, turning her head to the side, and slowly opened her eyes. Well…she was alive, which she took to mean that Axel hadn't killed her, and they'd somehow avoided being found by Marluxia or anyone else who would have the intent to destroy them.

"Xain?" she heard a voice say.

She frowned; that sounded like…

"Xain? Can you hear me?"

She turned her head to the other side, blinking a few times until she could finally focus on the blonde mullet that was bobbing anxiously in front of her. "Demy…?"

"Yeah, it's me," he said, sounding relieved now.

"What're you doing here?" she asked, her voice slightly slurred. Not that she even knew where 'here' was.

"Umm, that's kind of a long story," Demyx replied.

Remembering the wounds she had received in the fight, she raised a hand to her shoulder, surprised to feel that it had been stitched closed.

"Yeah, I took care of your wounds. You were in really bad shape, but with a bit of healing and some stitches, yeah…how does your arm feel?" the blonde said.

She flexed the arm in question, wincing slightly, and curled her fingers experimentally into a fist. "Weak…" she replied.

"That's expected," he said with a slight nod, "I don't think there'll be any…permanent damage. Same with your leg, but, uh, I'm no doctor, so…"

She nodded in understanding, struggling to sit up.

"Try not to have any more encounters with pointy blades," Demyx added, trying to lighten the mood as he put a hand on her back, helping her.

She laughed softly, but the sound seemed more bitter than anything, "Tell that to Marluxia," she said.

"The Organization should be taking care of him," the blonde said.

"One can only hope," Xain muttered.

"Axel told me what's going on," he said, "Larxene was the traitor, not you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"At least you believe it," she said, looking down to the floor at the mention of Larxene.

"I'm sure the rest of the Organization will too," Demyx said.

"But how will they know?" she pointed out with a soft sigh.

"They will," he said with a slight, brief smile, "Trust me."

Biting her lip, she looked up again, faintly returning his smile, "Thanks."

Turning her head, she gazed around the room she was in, hoping for something to change the subject away from the Organization. It seemed pleasant enough, the room, that is, a large window on one wall, some nondescript furniture, but she'd never seen this place before. Speaking of not seeing things, where was her coat?

"Hey," she said aloud with a slight frown, "Where's…?"

"Oh! Your coat," he said, moving to retrieve it from behind them, and held it out to her, "I fixed this too."

Taking her coat, she saw that all the rips that had been caused from her fight with Marluxia had been sewn up. "You didn't have to," she said almost shyly, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"I know," he said with a small smile, "I wanted to."

"Thank you," she said quietly, carefully shrugging into her coat-careful so that she wouldn't strain her injured shoulder.

"Xain?" he said after a moment's pause.

Noting the difference in his tone, she looked up as he sat next to her, "Yeah?"

"I wish you wouldn't put yourself through things like this," Demyx said quietly, gloved fingers brushing ever so gently along her slashed cheek.

"I had no choice," she said, "I blindly got caught in the middle of all of this, I didn't know."

"If you'd stood up to him…you wouldn't be in this situation," he said, letting his hand drop away.

"Demy…" she said softly, seeing where this conversation was going.

"I don't understand what you see in him, he's not good for you. He doesn't even care about you, not like…" he trailed off.

She was silent, waiting for him to continue, having a vague sense of what he was getting at, but what he did next caught her completely off guard. Slowly, the blonde leaned over, and kissed her, tenderly, longingly. At first she didn't respond, gently tried to push him away even, but then she found herself kissing him back. She hadn't known…all this time and she hadn't…well, she'd somewhat known, she had to admit that, but…she'd always pretended not to notice.

"Demy…" she said when they parted.

"I like you a lot, Xain," he said, turning his gaze to the floor as if he already anticipated what her response would be, "I'd be good to you, I wouldn't put you through these kinds of things like he has…"

"Demyx," she started, and he knew from the fact that she was using his full name that what she was about to say was exactly what he'd expected, "You're sweet, really…"

"But?" he prodded with a sigh.

"But you're like…my brother," she said softly, brushing her fingers through his gelled locks.

"You'd kiss your brother like that?" he said with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Her face flushed, and she floundered for words, averting her gaze.

"It's alright, I understand," he said with another sigh.

"I…I'm sorry," she said, "I don't want to hurt you."

"I know," he said with a slight, sad smile, "I know."

It was at that moment though that a void of darkness opened, and she tensed, wary. It was Xigbar who emerged, but she didn't relax until Demyx laid a hand on her shoulder to tell her it was alright.

"Everything's cool," Xigbar said, "The Superior understands that Larxene was a traitor, and you won't be sentenced for your actions. A traitor…" he added with a shake of his head, as though he were still trying to accept that fact.

"And what of Marluxia?" Xain asked.

"We'll be taking care of him, don't you worry," he replied.

"We?" she repeated, "As in, just the four of us?"

"Yup. Xemnas wants this mess contained and dealt with," he said, "Though Axel and myself will be able to handle Marluxia. You've been busted up pretty bad, you should rest, aight?"

"I…yeah," she said, bowing her head. "Hey," she added quietly, looking to Demyx, "Where's Axel?"

"The other room," the blonde replied dully.

Xain nodded, standing. "I need to talk to him," she said, and then made her way to the door.


End file.
